Luxury Vacations in Sicily

They say that Sicily is like a country all of its own, and yet this island is Italy at its most raw. In place of rolling hills, a wild rocky interior, Etna’s volcanic slopes obscenely fertile, and dotted here and there with hilltop villages, crumbling monasteries and palazzos of faded pink.

The ravines of the south-east harbor baroque cities stacked up their sides: Ragusa, Noto and jasmine-scented Modica. The capital, Palermo, is a stage set for tragedy or romance in its gritty piazzas. And so much antiquity! Ortigia, the fortified island where Archimedes lived and Plato holidayed. The sun-baked remains of great empires – Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Moorish – around every corner, from the temples of Selinunte on the sandy south coast to the amphitheater of Taormina, now famed as the location for White Lotus. Sicilians are defiantly proud of their land and their culture, their tomatoes and grapes. Their food is joyfully simple; local wines are fresh, floral party-starters. Sicily reminds you how to live life a little more exuberantly.